Subscription revolution; VP on 'The View;' Meredith for sale; Twitter tipping; 'Dear Evan Hansen' reviewed

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TGIF! Brian Stelter here, filing from New Haven, CT, where I've been speaking with Yale students. It's 11:33pm ET on Thursday, Sept. 23. Here's the latest on Kamala Harris, Disney, Barry Diller, Facebook, Mark Levin, "Tiger King 2," Mario, and more...

Do you have "newsletter fatigue?"

I hope not! But this subject is something that journalists and writers go round and round about. Another term for it is "peak newsletter," the idea that there are simply too many damn emails demanding your attention. But I believe we're not even close to that peak. My editor's inbox might be clogged with letters, but the average internet user has plenty of room left, and may even pay $$ for more of them.

That's certainly the thesis behind Substack, the current king of paid newsletters. Substack CEO Chris Best's pitch to readers is "take back your mind" from the trash on social media feeds. And his pitch to writers is "take back your independence." The bigger Q, as I see it, is: How much money will people pay for direct subscriptions each month? Between Netflix and NYT and all the rest, what's the ceiling?

With those questions in mind, and with Facebook and Twitter actively trying to bigfoot Substack, I asked Best to join me on this week's "Reliable Sources" podcast. Substack is quickly expanding beyond newsletters into podcasts and serialized books and comics. Everyone in the media biz is aware that the company is a force to be reckoned with. Students ask me all the time about launching a Substack. So what is Best's vision? And how could it apply to other direct-to-consumer models? Hear from him via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, or your favorite app...

Four Best quotes

-- "How much money as a society are we spending on great writing and great thinking and great culture? And is it the right amount? Is it too much, too little?" Best's answer: It's way too little, so let's promote ways to spend more...

-- His critique of platforms like Facebook and Twitter: "It turns out that when you optimize for cheap engagement at the expense of everything else, you're not really asking people to 'choose' as their best selves what they want to read, you're kind of asking them, like, 'Come on, one more scroll, one more scroll.' And the things that... end up winning, when you set up the game in that way, are the things that push people's buttons, that make people anxious and afraid and hate each other. And, you know, all of the cheap outrage and all of the emergent effects we see on these platforms."

-- Best pitches Substack as a thoughtful place "where great stuff is rewarded." So what about the success of Covid contrarians like Alex Berenson on Substack? "It's important to have a space where readers feel like they can read the things they want to read and writers feel like they can write about the things they want to write, even if it's wrong." Substack has a content policy, but "we take a really strong stance, a default, in favor of freedom of the press and in favor of people being allowed to subscribe to and get emails that they want to get."

-- Will we all be paying for scores of individual subscriptions in the future?! "You know, the joke is that as soon as you're done unbundling things, you have to rebundle them. We already see writers on Substack who are working together, who are banding together to form companies, form communities to work with each other. So I don't think that the magical piece of the model is that the writer necessarily goes it alone. I think the magical piece is that the readers and the writers are in charge and you have this direct paid relationship."

Substack superstars ⭐

"I think this is a power law business," Best told me in the interview, adding, "At any given time, the people who are succeeding the most are really making a lot of money and accounting for a lot of the revenue." Some are multi-millionaires now. But he emphasized something else: "The bull case for Substack," he said, involves "the people who, but for Substack, never would have been writers. People who thought they had something to give the world, but didn't see a way into a career." Best said that group "is really interesting and exciting." Here's the rest of the audio conversation...

FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE

-- While on the subject of Substack: One of the primary complaints among readers is that newsletters are too long. (Ahem!) Julia Black recently looked at the "small army of underpaid editors" Substack has enlisted to help writers. Alas, her report is only for subscribers... (Off The Record)

-- More broadly, Sara Guaglione recently wrote about "subscription fatigue" concerns... (Digiday)

-- WaPo is launching a new type of tech coverage called Help Desk, a team of journalists "who will provide trusted advice about personal tech..." (WaPo)

-- CNN announced new members of the CNN+ content leadership team on Thursday, confirming Variety's report that "Nightly News" EP Jenn Suozzo has joined CNN as VP of Daily Programming for CNN+. Here's the full leadership list... (TVNewser)

-- On a very different note, this Robert Kagan column for WaPo might be Friday's most important read: "Our constitutional crisis is already here." Right now it's the most-read thing on the Post's website... (WaPo)

BREAKING

Magazine industry mega-deal

Barry Diller's IAC "is in advanced talks to acquire magazine publisher Meredith," WSJ's Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg scooped Thursday. Trachtenberg reported that the deal for the People and Better Homes & Gardens owner "is expected to be valued at more than $2.5 billion." Trachtenberg noted that the deal would "vastly expand IAC's collection of online publications, which include Brides, Serious Eats and Investopedia." But another group is also "vying for Meredith..."

Disney won't commit to independent ABC News probe

Oliver Darcy writes: "It doesn't look like Disney will grant ABC News president Kim Godwin her wish. Last month Godwin told staff she wanted an independent, third-party probe into how the network handled sexual assault allegations against former 'GMA' boss Michael Corn — allegations which he denies. But Disney exec Peter Rice has indicated to staff in recent days that such a probe won't happen. WSJ's Joe Flint reported Thursday that current 'GMA' boss Simone Swink told staff, after being briefed by Rice in a meeting, that such a probe was 'not happening at this time.' That news is not sitting well with ABC News staffers…"

>> Darcy adds: "The fact that Disney is pouring cold water on Godwin's request is pretty remarkable. The move undercuts Godwin's authority, less than a year after she was installed in the position. And it flies in the face of common sense — that is, if the goal is really to clean house and find out what really happened behind the scenes…"

FRIDAY PLANNER

VP Kamala Harris visits "The View" in person...

The results of the conspiracy-laden Arizona "fraudit" are expected to come out. Apparently it just confirms what we already knew...

"Dear Evan Hansen" debuts in theaters... Scroll down for Brian Lowry's review...

Speaking of Lowry, he flagged this: "Foundation," an expensive-looking adaptation of Isaac Asimov's science-fiction novels, premieres on Apple TV+...

Friday's album releases include William Shatner's "Bill," X Ambassadors' "The Beautiful Liar," and Diddy's "Off the Grid Vol. 1..."

AP and Univision collaboration coming Friday

The two news outlets "spent 18 days on the high seas off South America observing China's distant water fishing fleet up close for the first time. The results of that investigation, 'Great Wall of Light,' will be released this Friday." They released a teaser trailer...

"For many Haitian migrants, journey to Texas started online"

"Reliable" team member Eden Elliott flagged this AP story about the "confluence of factors" that caused the sudden sharp increase of migrants in Del Rio, Texas. One big factor, the writers say, is "the power of Facebook, YouTube and platforms like WhatsApp, which migrants use to share information that can get distorted as it speeds through immigrant communities, directing migration flows." Particularly via WhatsApp, "migrants often monitor the news and share information on routes." Read on...

Watchdog says CBP improperly targeted journalists

Oliver Darcy writes: "The US Customs and Border Patrol 'improperly targeted American citizens that the agency suspected were involved with a 2018-19 migrant caravan with intrusive additional inspections, according to a new DHS inspector general's report,' Politico's Daniel Lippman reported Thursday. Among those Americans were a handful of journalists. The report found 'one CBP Emergency Operations Center employee placed lookouts on five journalists who had been reporting on the caravan which led them to be subjected to secondary inspection...'"

Watch Avlon's new "Reality Check"

"Reality Check with John Avlon: Extremist Beat" is an expansion of Avlon's signature "New Day" segment, and this time he's going deeper, examining the rise of extremist groups and movements in the US. New episodes will stream every Thursday at 6pm ET for the next eight weeks. In the first episode, Avlon talks with Donie O'Sullivan and tackles the roots of QAnon belief. Watch here...

ADL renews call for Fox to fire Tucker Carlson

I was going to bring this up on last Sunday's "Reliable Sources," but I cut it out for time, and now I regret it. With each passing day it becomes more clear that the racist "great replacement theory" is being mainstreamed through the GOP media. New examples keep popping up on Fox, Newsmax, etcetera. Tucker Carlson remains at the forefront -- and that's why the Anti-Defamation League "is reiterating its calls" for Fox to fire Carlson, as The Daily Beast's Justin Baragona reported Thursday. ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt told Baragona, "If it somehow wasn't clear enough before to the executives at Fox News that Carlson was openly embracing white nationalist talking points, let last night's episode be case and point. We reiterate our call to Fox News and Lachlan Murdoch: Tucker Carlson must go..."

>> Darcy adds: "You'll remember that Lachlan Murdoch claimed Carlson had actually rejected the 'Great Replacement' theory earlier this year. So now that Carlson is openly embracing it, I asked a spokesman for him for comment. I didn't hear back..."

>> Spot-on point from Matt Gertz: Carlson's show "is a toxic combination of Infowars-style conspiracy theories and Stormfront-esque xenophobia because that's what network founder Rupert Murdoch, parent company CEO Lachlan Murdoch, and network CEO Suzanne Scott want in their 8 p.m. hour..."

FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO

-- Jeremy Barr's latest: "Even within the media, some question the amount of Gabby Petito coverage..." (WaPo)

-- Petito's fiancé Brian Laundrie "is now the subject of a federal warrant..." (CNN)

-- Regarding missing coverage of other missing persons, Glenn Greenwald pointed out that Jake Tapper devoted an entire 2019 segment "to asking why so many Native American women go missing..." (Twitter)

-- As an emailer remarked to me on Thursday, "media outlets have every right to criticize the trend" of missing-white-women stories, "but they also have every obligation to do stories to correct this..."

-- Here's a new story by CNN's Nicquel Terry Ellis: "These families of missing Black people are frustrated with the lack of response to their cases..." (CNN)

CNN's Poll of Polls about Biden

Several new polls are showing President Biden's approval rating "underwater and down significantly from earlier this year," CNN's Jennifer Agiesta reports. She averaged the five most recent surveys that meet CNN's standards for reporting and found that that Biden is averaging 45% approval and 51% disapproval. Per Agiesta, this suggests his ratings "have dropped significantly since earlier this year..."

Covid misunderstandings do real damage...

So here's an important corrective by Dr. Craig Spencer: "No, vaccinated people are not 'just as likely' to spread the coronavirus as unvaccinated people." Spencer's piece for The Atlantic says "this misunderstanding, born out of confusing statements from public-health authorities and misleading media headlines, is a shame. It is resulting in unnecessary fear among vaccinated people, all the while undermining the public's understanding of the importance — and effectiveness — of getting vaccinated." Read on...

>> Here's a new Pew finding: The Americans who relied the most on Donald Trump and his WH Covid task force "for news about the coronavirus outbreak in the early days of the pandemic are now among those least likely to have been vaccinated..."

FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE

-- Meghan Rafferty is officially taking over as exec producer of the "NBC Nightly News..." (Variety)

-- "The Takeaway" exec producer Lee Hill is moving to Boston to become the first exec editor for GBH News... (GBH)

-- Serena Marshall has been named NowThis' first ever WH correspondent. She previously covered politics at ABC... (THR)

-- Adriana Lacy is joining the Nieman Foundation as digital and audience engagement editor. She previously worked at Axios... (Twitter)

-- Sarah Scire wrote about Mississippi Free Press, an independent news org on the path to secure nonprofit status... (Nieman Lab)

-- New and intriguing in Texas: The Dallas Media Collaborative is a "group of news outlets, universities and nonprofits that are joining forces to produce solutions-based stories on affordable housing..." (Dallas News)

-- "Jim Sheeler knew how to get beneath the cliches and platitudes that serve as scaffolding for the grieving," Kristen Hare writes of the late Pulitzer Prize winner... (Poynter)

Facebook will testify about kids' safety

FB will once again be in the hot seat before Congress next week. WaPo's Cristiano Lima reported Thursday that, following WSJ's reporting showing that Facebook understood its product harmed children, the company will send global head of safety Antigone Davis to take questions from the Senate. "The whistleblower purportedly behind the leaks, meanwhile, is turning over documents to lawmakers on Capitol Hill and has indicated they plan to soon go public, according to a senator who's said to be in contact with them," Lima added...

FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR

-- Meanwhile: WSJ's Jeff Horwitz talked with NPR's Terry Gross about the "Facebook Files" and what they reveal about the social media company... (NPR)

-- Casey Newton says "most Facebook scandals come and go. But this one feels different than Facebook scandals of the past, because it has been led by Facebook's own workforce..." (The Verge)

-- Naomi Nix, David McLaughlin, and Anna Edgerton ask: "Is this Facebook's 'Big Tobacco' moment?" (Bloomberg)

-- Very interesting suit: Longtime libertarian journalist John Stossel is suing FB "for allegedly defaming him" through a fact-check that was affixed to one of his posts. Eriq Gardner has the full story... (THR)

-- "Twitter is rolling out its tipping feature to all 18+ users beginning on Thursday and has added Bitcoin as another form of payment," J. Clara Chan reports... (THR)

-- Ted Johnson writes about another revelation in "Peril:" That Trump realized his tweets "weren't necessarily helping him..." (Deadline)

-- What went wrong here?! "How a public affairs snafu led to news reports of a fake shooter at Fort Meade..." (Military.com)

Murdoch's climate hypocrisy

Oliver Darcy writes: "Here's yet another example of Rupert Murdoch allowing his media outlets to peddle one thing while privately doing something else entirely different. Vice's Geoff Dembicki reviewed publicly available documents that show Murdoch's News Corp. has spent years evaluating the 'potential financial damage it faced' due to climate change, as well as documenting its own climate footprint. That, of course, stands in direct contrast to the coverage from Murdoch's outlets like Fox News, which engage in climate denialism..."

Entertainment stars demand action

While Murdoch is practicing climate hypocrisy, other media heavyweights are using their platforms quite differently. "Camila Cabello, Billie Eilish, Leonardo DiCaprio, Lady Gaga, J.J. Abrams, and more than 60 other musicians, actors, and artists are urging entertainment industry executives to ask Congress to pass climate change legislation," THR's Ariana Brockington reported Thursday. "The group of artists teamed up with the NRDC Action Fund to write a letter to Warner Music Group CEO Lincoln Benet, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and others about their support for President Joe Biden's infrastructure bills..."

FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE

-- One of the year's biggest books is one of the most unhinged: Mark Levin's "American Marxism" screed has sold more than one million copies... (Examiner)

-- Tim O'Brien's big new story about ESPN and gambling, "Disney Builds a New Magic Kingdom in Sports Betting," notes that Adam Schefter is now an investor in a sports wagering app company, alongside Bob Kraft and others... (Bloomberg)

-- Mike Florio's followup story: "ESPN declines to say whether Adam Schefter's investment in gambling firm violates company policy..." (ProFootballTalk)

-- Brent Lang writes about how the New York Film Festival, which will return in-person, is "a key marker in New York City's long, painful reemergence from COVID-19..." (Variety)

Looking ahead to the Tonys...

"The Tony Awards are going to be a bit different this year," the NYT's Michael Paulson wrote Thursday. "Delayed by the continuing pandemic, Sunday's in-person ceremony will recognize shows that opened — and, in many cases, closed — long ago. The official after-party is canceled. And most of the prizes will be presented on a streaming service," Paramount+, so that the televised part on CBS "can focus on marketing Broadway." Paulson spoke with Sunday's pair of hosts, Audra McDonald and Leslie Odom Jr., about the opportunity...

Universal's latest bad-luck musical?

Brian Lowry writes: "'Dear Evan Hansen' isn't 'Cats' (although The Wrap noted its box-office prospects might be similar), but it certainly brought out critics' catty side based on the early reviews. That pile-on was probably a bit harsh, but it's fair to say the musical that won the Tony in 2017 has significantly lost something in its translation from stage to screen, despite Ben Platt reprising his role..."

'The Guilty' dials up Jake Gyllenhaal

Brian Lowry adds: "Elsewhere, producer-star Jake Gyllenhaal reunited with 'Southpaw' director Antoine Fuqua on the Netflix thriller 'The Guilty,' a remake of a Danish film that's virtually a one-character piece, shot at the height of Covid. The movie offers an up-close-and-sweaty showcase for Gyllenhaal, playing a cop at a 911 call center having a really, really rough day..."

FOR THE RECORD, PART SIX

-- Netflix says "Tiger King 2" is happening. Marianne Garvey has details... (CNN)

-- "In the week that Disney's 'Cruella' was made available for free on Disney+ ... the movie starring Emma Stone was the third most-streamed title on the web, according to Nielsen's weekly streaming rankings," Brian Welk writes... (The Wrap)

-- "Billy Eichner's 'Bros' will be historic in a couple of ways," Lesley Goldberg points out. "Eichner is already the first openly gay man to co-write and star in his own major studio film, and now the Universal Pictures feature has made history by setting a historic all-LGBTQ principal cast..." (THR)

-- Anthony D'Alessandro reports that A24 has set a release date for Joaquin Phoenix's "C'mon C'mon." It's due out on Nov. 19... (Deadline)

-- Amazon Prime "has released the first trailer for its upcoming biographical drama 'The Electrical Life of Louis Wain,'" Abbey White writes. The film stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Claire Foy... (THR)

Chris Pratt will voice Mario

At Thursday's Nintendo Direct event -- which was full of big announcements -- the forthcoming "Mario" movie received a firm US release date: Dec. 21, 2022. Engadget has details here. Chris Pratt will voice Mario, Anya Taylor-Joy will play Princess Peach, Charlie Day will voice Luigi, Jack Black will play Bowser, Keegan Michael-Key will voice Toad, and Seth Rogan will play Donkey Kong...